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The Adversary (DS9 episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Adversary" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, the season finale of the third season. It is rated 4.5/5 on the official Star Trek Website.
's promotion to Captain, he learns that a neighboring race may soon engage in war with the Federation. He brings the Defiant and Ambassador Krajensky along to help negotiations. Along the way, oddities occur on the ship and the crew suspects there may be a Changeling infiltrator. It is revealed to be Krajensky, but it is too late; he has already sabotaged the ship to the point it could instigate a war. After hours of searching, the crew tries to find the infiltrator with blood screenings but are unsuccessful. Sisko readies the ship's self-destruct while Chief O'Brien tries to override the Changeling's systems. Odo fights the Changeling in main engineering and ends up killing him (becoming the first changeling to harm another). It is then revealed that Krajensky may have long been dead and this was a Dominion plot to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant. Back at Deep Space Nine, Odo reveals the cryptic message the Changeling said before he died: "You are too late. We are everywhere".
This episode introduces the idea of blood testing to tell who is or isn't a Changeling. At one point Sisko points out that several people in a certain setting could be a Changeling, including himself. But Odo points to a bleeding wound on Sisko's hand. Humanoid blood, once it leaves the body, is dead tissue; "blood" leaving a Changeling's body would revert to shapeshifting jelly. This suggests a simple effective way to test a person suspected of being a Changeling. The idea is reminiscent of John W. Campbell
's classic novella, "Who Goes There?
", made into two movie versions both called The Thing, in which scientists at an Antarctic weather base devise a similar test to detect who has or hasn't been infected by an alien creature that can perfectly mimic other life forms. Sisko's own father would point out a possible flaw in the test in the episode "Homefront".
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, the season finale of the third season. It is rated 4.5/5 on the official Star Trek Website.
Plot
Following Commander Benjamin SiskoBenjamin Sisko
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
's promotion to Captain, he learns that a neighboring race may soon engage in war with the Federation. He brings the Defiant and Ambassador Krajensky along to help negotiations. Along the way, oddities occur on the ship and the crew suspects there may be a Changeling infiltrator. It is revealed to be Krajensky, but it is too late; he has already sabotaged the ship to the point it could instigate a war. After hours of searching, the crew tries to find the infiltrator with blood screenings but are unsuccessful. Sisko readies the ship's self-destruct while Chief O'Brien tries to override the Changeling's systems. Odo fights the Changeling in main engineering and ends up killing him (becoming the first changeling to harm another). It is then revealed that Krajensky may have long been dead and this was a Dominion plot to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant. Back at Deep Space Nine, Odo reveals the cryptic message the Changeling said before he died: "You are too late. We are everywhere".
This episode introduces the idea of blood testing to tell who is or isn't a Changeling. At one point Sisko points out that several people in a certain setting could be a Changeling, including himself. But Odo points to a bleeding wound on Sisko's hand. Humanoid blood, once it leaves the body, is dead tissue; "blood" leaving a Changeling's body would revert to shapeshifting jelly. This suggests a simple effective way to test a person suspected of being a Changeling. The idea is reminiscent of John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
's classic novella, "Who Goes There?
Who Goes There?
Who Goes There? is a science fiction novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. under the pen name Don A. Stuart, published August 1938 in Astounding Stories. In 1973, the story was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written, and published with...
", made into two movie versions both called The Thing, in which scientists at an Antarctic weather base devise a similar test to detect who has or hasn't been infected by an alien creature that can perfectly mimic other life forms. Sisko's own father would point out a possible flaw in the test in the episode "Homefront".
Arc significance
- Benjamin Sisko is promoted to Captain.
- This is the first use of the "blood test" to verify whether someone has been replaced by a shape-shifter.
- Odo is forced to kill a Changeling in self-defense, thus becoming the first Changeling to harm another.
- It is revealed that Changelings have begun infiltrating the Alpha Quadrant.